Apple is planning to put advertising in the Maps app by 2026
Boosting its Services division with a few extra ad dollars sounds nice — but it could drive users away.
Apple is well known for its iconic ads. Now, the same thing that attracted many to the company in the first place could be what deters them from its products. According to a report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman published on Sunday, Apple is moving ahead with plans to put ads in its Maps app.
Like features already incorporated into rival Google Maps and other navigation services, Apple plans to sell prominent space within the app’s search results to restaurants and other businesses. Per Gurman, this will be similar to search ads in the App Store, where developers can buy promoted slots for their software based on queries. Apple also intends to employ AI for its sponsored Maps suggestions to ensure “relevant and useful” results.
Think similar
After years of eschewing ads within its offerings, Apple seems increasingly enamored by in-app marketing — perhaps as a way to bolster its all-important Services division, which keeps the Apple machine ticking along between iPhone purchases. Last year, the segment brought in ~$96 billion in revenue, roughly a quarter of the company’s total.
Home to the App Store, Apple Music, Apple TV+, iCloud, advertising, and more, Apple’s Services revenue has grown fivefold in the past decade alone. Meanwhile, per eMarketer’s estimates, Apple’s ad revenue totaled $6.5 billion last year, or 7% of its Services total.
Though Apple has historically played down its desire to move further into the ad space, in part due to its privacy-conscious data collection terms, “Apple Ads” may now be too fruitful an option for the company not to squeeze for juice (à la Walmart and Amazon), with advertising typically carrying very healthy profit margins.
Still, Apple could face a backlash if it plugs promos too strongly: users have fought against ads featuring in iOS settings; in June, many iPhone customers bemoaned Apple Wallet putting out a push notification to promote “F1: The Movie”; and we all remember that U2 album.
